Mink farming keeps semi-aquatic, wide-ranging predators in small wire cages, causing severe welfare problems. Millions of mink are farmed globally each year despite growing evidence of suffering.
Research consistently shows farmed mink suffer from profound behavioural deprivation. Without swimming opportunities, sufficient space, or complex environments, mink develop stereotypies indicating chronic stress. They are also highly fearful of humans, making every human contact — feeding, inspection, slaughter — acutely stressful. The industry has been unable to breed animals well-adapted to captive conditions in the way farm animals have been domesticated over millennia.